Thomas Dang endured ferocious firefights and lost many friends during two combat tours in Iraq, but the Marine Corps reservist said one of his most difficult experiences was transitioning back to civilian life after his first tour in 2005.

“It was hard coming home,” said Dang, 30, a Glendale resident who spends weekends on reserve duty at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside. “I was so used to being on alert all the time that I had a very hard time relaxing. My temper was high and my patience was low. I didn’t have the ability to cope with simple daily tasks.”

Dang, who holds a master’s degree in art, found he could escape his troubles by working with clay.

“The second I touched it, I fell in love,” he said. “All my worries and stress from real life are on the back burner when I’m doing my artwork. Time flies and I forget everything.”

The part-time ceramist is a member of the Dirty Canteen Collective, a group of nine war veterans who have gained relief from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms with art therapy. The artists — who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo — have had their work exhibited all over the country, including an ongoing exhibit through Aug. 3 at the Escondido Municipal Gallery, 262 E. Grand Ave., and another that opened Saturday at Linksoul Lab, 530 S. Coast Highway, in Oceanside.

Suspended from wires in the front display window of the Escondido gallery are a group of colorful toylike bombs that make up “Bombs Away,” which Dang created last year. Hanging nose-first at eye-level, Dang’s bombs are hand-formed and -painted ceramics, each with a resin aquarium-like midsection filled with fanciful microorganisms “floating” inside.

Dang said the “Bombs Away” project is a cynical and comic commentary on the ugliness of biological weapons and the strange beauty of pathogenic organisms. He is now finishing his master’s degree in microbiology and hopes to work for the Department of Homeland Security fighting biological warfare.

He is also exhibiting in Escondido a ceramic piece molded from a Claymore anti-personnel mine. Dang has refashioned the combat weapon into a flask to reflect how marines and soldiers will share a drink and war stories after a battle. Claymore mines are stamped with the words “Front Toward Enemy” but Dang has changed the word “enemy” to “friend.”

Wendy Wilson, executive director of the Escondido gallery, said the 60-piece exhibit has generated a huge reaction among gallery visitors, in part because San Diego County is home to so many veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

“The exhibition hits the viewer hard,” she said. “It is something we can’t ignore locally, what these men and women returning from war are going through. The different artists relate through their work how they are coping with post-traumatic stress This is a big issue in San Diego and an important exhibition for people to see.”

Dang said he joined the Dirty Canteen group last year as a way to share experiences and a love of art with his fellow veterans. He was stunned when the group’s exhibition in the Bay area this past March garnered national attention. His “Bombs Away” project was the first thing mentioned in a New York Times article.

The group’s artists work in photography, woodcuts, sculpture and mixed-media. Although they live all over the country, they stay in close touch via email and attend exhibit openings together around the country. Dang said he’s working on a big installation for a group show in Pennsylvania next year. He has invited hundreds of veterans to share their experiences by applying words and art to canteen cups. He plans to collect the cups and assemble them into a bunker large enough for people to climb inside.

At each Dirty Canteen exhibit opening, Dang said he’s approached by many veterans who are moved by the work and feel compelled to share their own experiences.

“When we come back (from war), it’s hard to talk to people about what we have experienced,” he said. “Art opens up an avenue for us to talk about what we’re feeling, and it encourages other people to come, see and understand.”